TheFinal Fantasyseries has always been deeply self-referential; recycling enemy concepts, items, equipment, magic, characters, and even entireplot threads and story concepts from pastFinal Fantasygames. WhileFinal Fantasy 7set itself apart from its predecessors with its cyberpunk world, it still adhered to many series traditions, and alluded to past games constantly throughout its 40+ hour runtime.
Final Fantasyis well-known to have iconic elements that appear in nearly every game; such as crystals, Chocobos, Moogles, Gil, many items and equipment, abilities, airships, and a character named Cid. There’s also a host of iconic enemies and summons, including but most certainly not limited to Bombs, Tonberrys, Cactuars, Malboros, Behemoths, and colored Dragons for enemies, as well as Ifrit, Shiva, and Bahamut for summons. However, there are plenty more targeted references inFinal Fantasy 7to its six prior entries.
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Final Fantasy 1
Some ofFinal Fantasy 7’s most important elements have major legacies dating all the way back to the firstFinal Fantasy. Vincent’s final Limit Break, Chaos, is an obvious reference toFF1’s final boss of the same name. Less obvious is thatFinal Fantasy1’s four elemental crystalsare also present inFinal Fantasy7. The Huge Materia thatFinal Fantasy7’s party can gather during the late-game bear resemblance to the crystals in the first game, right down to sharing their corresponding colors.
The ultimate, plot-integral white magic spell inFinal Fantasy7, Holy, was also present in everyFinal Fantasyup until that point, even if it was translated into a different English name.Final Fantasy 7marks the first time in the series Holy was set apart as an unusable spell.
Final Fantasy 2
The presence ofCid and airships in every gamesinceFinal Fantasy 2is a well known piece of trivia to everyFinal Fantasyfan, but most don’t realize that the name “Highwind” accompanied them. While Highwind is most commonly attributed toFinal Fantasy 4’s Kain Highwind, Kain’s dragoon predecessor Ricard Highwind actually held the name first.Final Fantasy 7’s Cid carries on the name’s legacy by serving a dragoon stand-in for Cloud’s party.
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Final Fantasy 3
The concept of the Ancients, the ancient race who used to live on Gaia, has existed since the Lufenians were introduced inFinal Fantasy 1. Aerith is the last Ancient as of the start ofFinal Fantasy 7, a situation that is surprisingly similar to Desch inFinal Fantasy 3. Desch is also one of the last surviving Ancients as of the game’s events, and briefly joins the party before seemingly sacrificing himself to allow them to proceed.He survives unlike Aerith, but both come back later on to help the heroes out.Final Fantasy 3is also the first game to introduce the Meteor spell, but it is simply a normal, high-level Black magic spell in that game.
Final Fantasy 4
Final Fantasy 7features the Demon Gate boss in the Temple of the Ancients, which marks the second appearance in theFinal Fantasyseries of the iconic Demon Wall’s appearance. It does not gradually crush party members for instant death like the Wall inFinal Fantasy4, but it can deal enormous physical damage. A more direct callback toFinal Fantasy 4comes from the playCloud and his date can go to at the Golden Saucer. The date will play the role of Princess Rosa in the Event Square play, which may be a reference to Rosa inFinal Fantasy 4.
Final Fantasy 5
Final Fantasy 7’s references toFinal Fantasy 5are primarily mechanical in nature. The way to summon Fat Chocobo with the Choco/Mog materia works likeFinal Fantasy5’s Chocobo summon, as well as the fact that inboth games, Odin will use Gunge Lanceinstead of Zantetsuken if all targets are immune to instant death. The Shildra Inn in Cosmo Canyon has a storyline reference toFinal Fantasy 5, as it is named after Syldra, Faris' pet sea dragon.
However, the closestFinal Fantasy 7draws toFinal Fantasy 5is an outright homage to the latter’s Great Sea Trench in the form of the Sunken Gelnika. Both are underwater locations, and both contain strange, powerful monsters that are only referred to as “Unknown.”
Final Fantasy 6
Coming hot off the heels ofFinal Fantasy 6,Final Fantasy 7is full of references to its immediate predecessor. The first reference occurs a couple minutes into the game, where Cloud Strife signals the shift in games by leveling up from 6 to 7 at the end of the first battle. The next reference is immediate, asBiggs and Wedge are introduced. These two Avalanche members are named after the two soldiers who participate inFinal Fantasy 6’s tutorial sequence, and are in turn named after two minorStar Warscharacters, Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles. Midgar also has billboards depicting Mt. Kolts, an early game dungeon inFinal Fantasy 6.
Cait Sith and Mogappear to both have been inspired by their namesakes’ appearances inFinal Fantasy 6: Cait Sith as a summon and Mog as both that game’s species name, and the Dancer-like Moogle party member. Cait’s Moogle Dance Limit Break and Red XIII’s Howling Moon Limit Break both appear to be inspired by similar attacks inFinal Fantasy6. More specifically, Howling Moon was the ability used by the Fenrir summon.
Final Fantasy 7’s summon monster Typhoon also alludes to Typhon, Ultros' cohort, fromFinal Fantasy 6. Cactuars, the Ultima Weapon sword and Ultimate Weapon monster, and the Hell Rider all originate inFinal Fantasy 6. Chasing down the Ultimate Weapon via airship is also similar to pursuing Deathgaze inFinal Fantasy6.
It’s plain to see thatFinal Fantasy 7owes a lot toFinal Fantasy 6, and the above list isn’t even everything. An incredibly obscure secret tying the games together is thatFinal Fantasy 7actually borrowed its Limit Breaksfrom a hidden mechanic inFinal Fantasy 6. Known as Desperation Attacks, these had a small chance to be used by most characters if the Fight command was used at low health.
These were refined and focused on considerably when they becameFinal Fantasy7’s iconic Limit Breaks, but it is still fascinating that a battle mechanic synonymous withFinal Fantasy 7’s name originated elsewhere, and most players never saw it there. WhileFinal Fantasygames can seem a little rote sometimes with their strict adherence to certain imagery, discoveries like these make looking back at their shared histories worthwhile.
Final Fantasy 7 Remakeis available now on PS4. The PS5 version releases on July 27, 2025.
